Additional Images

Note:

The earliest renditions of this vessel form can be found in early Western Zhou ceramics, a shape originally based off of a fishing hamper. This form with its globular body, tapered foot and small lug handles persisted into Song and Yuan dynasty, when Longquan celadon wares peaked in the foreign trade market. These pieces were largely fired in kilns located in Zhejiang, with these particular ‘guan’-type jars exported to the Southeast Asian market.

The celadon glazed jar demonstrates a well-potted foot rim, the top of which neatly lining the base of the plantain leaf motif, and the entire body decorated with fine lines and florals in white slip. The glaze retains a subdued sea-green colour washed with a slightly bluish tinge, characteristic of a later Song and Yuan dynasty celadon. A similar example of this glaze colour can be found in the Sakamoto Goro Collection sold at Sotheby’s New York, September 16, 2014, lot 2.

A very similar example was exhibited in ‘Longquan and Related Celadons’ at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1921, from the Hetherington Collection of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, UK. The same piece was included in “Collecting Chinese Art: Interpretation and Display”, edited by Stacey Pierson, published by SOAS, University of London, 2000

A comparable piece was sold at Christie’s Amsterdam, October 2, 2012, lot 284. For a Yuan dynasty example, see Poly Auction Hong Kong, October 7, 2013, lot 1345, which sold for HKD 46,000